365 days
by SebastianSnark
Summary: What would you do with only 365 days to live? Unfortunately for Rin and Len Kagamine, they never get to answer this question how they want to. In one year, they watch the world as they knew it fall apart at their feet. Rated T for violence and language.
1. Happy birthday, Len

A/N before we begin, I haven't written fanfiction in forever, so I decided a good way to get back into it is with VOCALOID I have 20+ characters to choose from, and they can be whatever I want. I thank you for taking the time to read this; I won't make another one of these guys until chapter five. See you all then!

365 days

-Len-

What if you only had three-hundred and sixty five days to live? What would you do? Would you fall in love, and get married? Have children? Become famous? Well I'm not so sure what I'd want to do, but I know what happened. In that one year before the end of life as we knew it. I was only fifteen at the time; from age fifteen to sixteen, I watched the world fall apart.

My name is Len Kagamine, this story begins on my fifteenth birthday, it was winter and the snow coated the ground in a thin white sheet. Two days after Christmas; it is almost nice to have a birthday at that time, because nobody forgets your birthday. All you have to say is "I was born two days after Christmas" and everyone will remember what day that is.

I never got many presents on Christmas, or my birthday, neither did my twin sister, though we had gotten used to it. It was almost fun for a time, getting to open one half of our presents two days earlier. However, by age fifteen I had stopped believing win Santa Clause, Rin, my sister had as well.

We were celebrating calmly with our mother. It was just the three of us, Rin, mother and me. I remember sitting at the kitchen table watching the news, the new news anchor was making her debut. I looked over at my sister, she was wearing a long red sweater, and her blond hair was tied with a white bow, and pinned with white hairclips. She stared intently at the television; her blue eyes were captivated in what the newscaster was saying.

Boredly I looked over and listened to the odd green-haired woman drone on. It was hard to understand her muddled words and figured her bust was the only reason she made it to the news crew. I waited patiently for the cute Korean weather reporter. Her long wavy hair always made my heart smile, well metaphorically.

My mother walked past us to the kitchen, she opened the cake box on the table and pulled out a small white cake.

"Turn that TV off, Rin." She said setting the cake down, I turned and looked at her, Her blonde hair fell over her face and into her eyes, like Rin's they were blue. Though Rin was thicker than my mother, my mother was always very thin. She cut the cake carefully into six pieces. She served a piece to Rin, then me, and then she finally served herself. Rin flipped the TV off reluctantly. She ate her cake slice quickly, obviously wanting to get back to the TV.

I ate slowly, I wanted to pretend that the cake was homemade, like when Rin and I were young, and mom had time to make a cake. She was so busy recently; she had to work so hard to make ends meet. I looked at her and asked a question to break the awkward silence.

"How has your day been?" I asked, she sighed and looked at me with tired eyes.

"It's been long," She said "How was yours?"

"It was fine…" I said meekly.

"Did you have a chance to check the High-School's acceptance list?" She asked. I bit my lip; I didn't want to tell her the truth that I hadn't looked. I was afraid to, I wanted to stay at the same school as Rin, but she was going to an all-girl's school next year. For the first time in all my life we wouldn't be in the same class. Rin was smart, she got straight as in all subjects, was attentive and ready to learn. I was reluctant to pay attention in class; I preferred to stay in my room and play my keytar rather than spend time with other teenagers. Rin however spent her time with friends, studying, and watching dramas on the Korean station.

"He didn't check." Rin said, putting her plastic fork down on her empty plate. "May I be excused?" I straightened my back against the chair and prepared for impact.

"YOU DIDN'T CHECK?" Mom stood up in her seat and slammed her hands onto the table, startling Rin, and me. I closed my eyes tightly and held onto the sides of my chair, my knuckles white because of my grip.

"I forgot OKAY!" I said opening my eyes and glaring at her.

"YOU FORGOT!" She screeched, "I REMINDED YOU FOR WEEKS!"

"Well, I forgot anyway!" I whined

"I NEVER!" Her face turned white and she yelled aloud "AAUGH!"

"I could go with him, to check the listings." Rin suggested, taking her leave form the table, putting her dish in the sink and her fork in the trash.

Mom sat back down and sighed "Fine, why don't you two do that? I need to get ready for work, keep your phones on."

"I'll take your dish." I said, picking up Mom's cake. I rested it in the sink and tossed her fork in the trash.

"Make sure you dress warmly, its cold out." She said as she retested her head in her hands pensively. I nodded and ran to my room. Leaving my unfinished cake alone, and forgotten. When I got o my room I pulled on a yellow sweatshirt over my white T-shirt. I pulled on snowpants over my jeans. I added a layer of socks onto the ones I was already wearing... I slipped a black windbreaker coat over my sweatshirt and zipped it halfway up. I pulled on black gloves and a blue knit-beanie. I gently lifted my Keytar off of its stand and rested it into its case; I locked the case and swung the strap over my shoulder.

I stepped out of my room and to the front of the house where I found Rin lacing a pair of leather snowboots over a pair of brightly coloured socks, and bright pink snowpants. She looked fashionable, even in her winter wear, always in bright colours, and always wearing the nicest makeup. Sloppily I tied my own rubber boots over my feet. I clumsily stood up and reached out for Rin.

"You have your Phone right?" She asked

"It's in my jeans' pocket," I said "You have yours?" I asked her, she patted her own pocket. "Let's go then" I smiled. She took my hand and pulled herself up. Over her hands she slipped a fluffy pair of light blue mittens.

"I'm going for the 'colourblind' look' she laughed, waving her hands over her outfit, form her striped green hat to her fur lined yellow-jacket, pink pants, and brown shoes. She looked like a sharpie highlighter set.

"Come on, Colour-blind-san, we gotta get there before it gets dark, where's Mom?" I asked. My older twin closed her eyes to remember.

"She left, not more than ten minutes ago; she gave me the house key and wants us to lock up."

"Okay then." I nodded opening the door for Rin, "You first. Colour-blind-san." Rin stuck her tongue out at me and walked out the door onto the snowy sidewalk. She held her hand out and caught the gently falling snowflakes.

"Grab my umbrella, we may need it." She ordered, I complied, like a good submissive little brother. I handed it to her as I left the house. She opened the umbrella and held it over her head. I didn't bother, if I got wet I got wet. No big deal. I walked slightly behind Rin, letting her skip ahead; I slouched and put my hands in my pockets.

"You'll be going to the same school as Piko if you get in." Rin stated, looking back at me, her blue eyes figuratively smiling.

_Great _I thought, just what I wanted, to be in the same school as my sister's boyfriend. Not that i minded Piko, he was cool, and sweet, but it was weird, he was almost a year older than her. She was still in junior high, and here he was, almost a sophomore in high school. It was weird to me, and I couldn't imagine it working. Though they got along just fine, perfectly in fact!

Maybe I just got sick of listening to her text him every five seconds…

"How long before we get there?" I asked picking my pace up and walking side-by-side with Rin. I paused then asked "_How_ do we get there?"

"You don't even know where it is?" Rin exclaimed her mouth dropped open in surprise. "GOD! Do I have to do _everything_ for you!" she clipped the back of my head playfully with one of her fists. I ducked, but failed to dodge.

"Ouch!" I whined rubbing the back of my head.

"Don't you worry Lenny-boo-boo, I'll get you there, just hold my hand~" She sung, I almost wanted to punch her in the face, but I knew she was just teasing, and she was my sister, I couldn't just hit her. Not without a _really_ god reason. I just scrunched my face up and glared at her while smiling, so she knew I wasn't really mad. Rin laughed heartily. And she broke into a run ahead of me.

"You gotta keep up Lenny-boo!" She called out as she turned around briefly. I ran after her as fast as I could while carrying my keytar. It wasn't hard to catch up to her; I had longer legs than her. Being twins doesn't mean we always have to have the same proportions, especially when your twin is a girl and you are not.

Rin skidded to a halt in front of a school surrounded by a brick wall.

"Here it is the acceptance list." She nodded. I took in deep breaths, just because I had long legs, it didn't mean I was athletic. I watched as she looked over the newcomers list.

"Kagmine, Kagamine..." She muttered under hear breath looking for my name.

"Doesn't look like it-" I was cut off in my statement.

"AHA! Kagamine, Len!" She shouted pointing to my name; I reluctantly walked over and looked at the name, hoping for a mistake in the kanji. However, there it was plain and clear. My name, maybe I wasn't so dumb after all. I sighed in defeat and looked at Rin.

"How long before dark?" I asked, Rin checked her watched carefully

"A few hours," She said "But we shouldn't stay out too long, in case the snow gets worse." She looked up at me and blinked. I smiled and grabbed her hand.

"Kay then!" I said happily, dragging her along. Her eyes became wide with shock, I had this one last evening to spend a birthday alone with my sister and I was going to take it. I ran as fast as I could and still keep a hold of Rin to the park in between the school and our house. I stopped with a jolt and took in deep breaths.

"Why are we here?" She asked folding her umbrella.

"Do you remember this park?" I asked smiling "We visited her when we first moved to Tokyo," I smiled

"Ten years ago." Rin added, she smiled and ran up to the nearest bench. She wiped the snow off both sides and sat down. I sat next to her, I swung my keytar case off of my shoulder and turned it on, and lightly I began to play the Pokémon opening. Rin laughed and sang along, and I sang with her. I teared up at the memories it resurfaced.

Suddenly Rin stopped singing. I stopped playing and looked at her confused.

"Len… where are all the people?" She asked. My heart sank, and my phone rang. I carefully picked it up, relived to see it was only Mom calling.

"Mom?" I asked "what is it?"

"Len?" She asked, "Oh thank _God."_ She sighed; I could hear her heavy breathing on the other side.

"Mom?" I asked even more intent to figure out what was wrong.

"Is Rin with you?" She asked

"Yes." I said, biting my lip. I didn't like where this was going. I waited for her reply.

"Len?"

"Yes mom?"

_"Run"_ I almost dropped my phone.


	2. Run for your life, Lily

Lily

The last time I saw my children that day was when I saw them leave the room to put on their winter gear, I had packed the cake away with care, and cleared up Len's space. I hated getting so mad at him; he was my dearest son after all. I just wanted him to have the best future; I wanted him to grow up and not always need to be by his sister.

I got ready quickly, pulling on my coat and my boots, grabbing my big black umbrella and leaving. The snow was falling quickly; my footsteps would soon be covered in snow. I closed my eyes and though about how special this day was. On this day fifteen years ago I gained two wonderful friends and children; Rin who was always on the left and Len always on the right.

They looked so much the same then, back before they became as different as day and night; both with full heads of fluffy blonde hair and light eyes, strong and determined Rin, cautious and introverted Len. When we lived in the south of Japan they would explore at young ages, there was a time when my Husband found them to have fallen down a fox hole. They had both sprained their ankles, Rin first then Len trying to help her up. They were only three and a half at the time; thankfully it was winter then and there were no foxes there.

My husband was there also, so I knew they were safe despite. Ten years ago, my husband passed away. Leaving me a single mother, I moved myself and my children up to Tokyo to be closer to my parents. I took back up my studies of medicine and became a nurse at a hospital. This was where I was heading now, the hospital where I worked, ready and prepared for the night shift. I stopped at the bus stop and waited for several minutes for the bus. When it arrived I hopped on.

It drove around for a while, stopping where it usually did, letting people off, and letting people on. It was ordinary. I pressed the bell when it came round by the hospital and I stepped off. My feet made a 'crunch' in the frozen grass, and I 'crunched' my way up to the door. I held my umbrella over my head to keep the snow form falling on my uncovered head.

I opened the automatic door by use of the handicap button and closed my umbrella as I stepped in. Once inside I removed my coat scarf and snow boots. I hung them up in my locker with my umbrella. I tied my hair back out of my face, and I quickly changed into my uniform, hat and all. I grabbed my clipboard and left to go check on my patients.

The process was slow, and tedious, making sure they were okay, doing fine, and taking notes on their conditions.

"Good evening, Lily-chan" Said a familiar voice, I turned to see the purple haired doctor push his glasses up his nose. His long hair was tied up behind his head, as was company policy, all hair longer than shoulder length was to be tied up out of one's face.

"Gackupo-san" I said smiling, "good evening."

"You can call me by my first name, you know, we've worked together ten years." He stated simply his warm smile going flat with disappointment.

"Kamui-san." I corrected myself. He sighed and rolled his eyes. Obviously this conversation wasn't going how he had hoped. I couldn't help it, I was afraid of letting people into my life romantically, I felt like I was betraying my husband by doing so and it just felt all wrong.

"Have you been down to the lab?" He asked "VY1's been giving Honne a run for his money with this, he almost got bitten today."

"VY1 always exhibited animalistic behavior." I said "Are you telling me it's gotten worse?"

"It has, we've tried to keep her sedated, but that has since become difficult." Kamui said, "She's built up a resistance," He grinned "Would you like to see?"

I smiled, patient VY1 was one of the hospitals most top-secret projects. Kamui was one of twelve scientists assigned. To be asked if I wanted to see the progress was a great honour.

"I would love to." I said, his eyes brightened, they were shocking, like little blue lasers. I liked him, Kamui that is, more than I thought I should. I smiled at him shyly.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go." He smiled, beckoning me to follow him. I followed slowly, and carefully. My hospital slippers made shuffling noises on the clean tile. I followed Kamui down the hall and towards the lab. I didn't pay much attention to my surroundings, only to following Kamui. It was like I was trapped in a labyrinth with only him to help me out. I smiled and without reached out for his hand, I realized myself and pulled back. We walked through the lab at a quickened pace, all the way to the back.

In the back there was a single patient strapped to a bed, IVs were plugged in her various veins. Her eyes were covered and her black hair was short.

"Is that?" I asked, almost whispering. I pointed cautiously.

"Her name _was_ Mizki, when she was human that is." Kamui said sadly, he looked at the floor; I stood next to him and put my hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

"What happened to her?" I asked

"She was bitten by something rabid, and it turned her rabid, but, not quite." He said closing his eyes wearily, "It was about half a month ago, the virus she has, that we've diagnosed as VY1 is spreadable, but only though contact with blood. I'm not allowed down here if I have any cuts on my hands."

"What if she bites you?" I asked

"Then I'm out of luck." He replied slowly.

"It's okay, as long as you are working on a cure…" I muttered

"No cure, a vaccine." Kamui sighed "We should go." He turned around sadly I followed him, and we left the lab.

"I-I suppose I'll talk to you later… Kamui-kun…" I said, returning to my routine work. I looked out the window; it was two hours before dark it seemed. I hoped Rin and Len were doing fine all on their own. Then the warning bells went off, and the loudspeaker announced-

"_**VY1 HAS ESCAPED, PATIENT VY1 HAS ESCAPED." **_It blared.

My heart raced and I dropped my clipboard. Tore thought the hospital to find Kamui we ran into each other on a flight of stairs.

"KAMUI!" I said running into him.

"Lily-chan… Listen, I know what you're thinking, I don't know how she got out, all I know is that now that she is nothing is safe anymore. You need to get your children and you need to get out. You need to get your family, whoever you have, and get out. Once someone else is bitten it's only a matter of time." In his voice was the sense of emergency, a thought occurred to me, what if she had already bitten some people? What if I didn't have time to get home? I needed to make sure Rin and Len were safe first. I would find them, but they needed to be safe first.

"Kamui-kun…" I said grabbing his arm. "I need to call my children, please stay close to me for the moment." He nodded, and I dashed down the stairs, Kamui in tow and we ran to the locker room where my phone was, through commotion of all sorts, people screaming, evacuating, and being evacuated. I feared for the patients. I felt guilty; they came here sick, and tired, expecting to be cared for, and here they were in danger.

My eyes welled with tears by the time we got to my locker. I sobbed a little and held my hands to my eyes. I didn't want to be seen crying. I could feel Kamui pull me into a reassuring hug.

"Shh, it's okay, you're okay, just, call your children. It'll be okay." He kept saying I buried my face in his jacket; I took in his smell and blew my nose. I laughed a little, that he was now covered in my snot. I pulled away then, and became cold. I opened my locker and picked up my cell phone. Coolly I called Len, my son. The phone rang, it range exactly three times before he picked up…

_"Mom?" _he asked.

"Len?" I replied, letting out a sigh of relief, "Oh thank God." I took in deep breaths trying to calm myself.

_"Mom?"_ He asked again, sounding a little more cautious this time.

"Is Rin with you?" I asked

_"Yes."_ He confirmed. I closed my eyes, preparing myself for what was to happen next.

"Len?" I asked looking at Kamui, who had an increasingly scared look on his face.

_"Yes, Mom?"_ He replied obediently.

"RUN." I said firmly.

_"What? Run? Run where? Why?"_ He said now fully panicked.

"I don't care, pack food, stay warm, just get out of the city if you can, keep your phone with you, I'll call, and we'll meet up just…" My heart raced and I began to sob again. "Just... Stay safe…"

_"Okay, mom…"_ He said_, "I got into high school, mom… I love you… Stay safe too."_ I pulled the phone form my ear hearing his voice fade as I closed my phone, tears streamed down my face and I couldn't move. I fell back onto my butt on the locker room bench.

"I love you too, Len…" I sobbed into my hands.

"Come on, you need to put on warm clothes, we gotta get out of here." Kamui said "They are evacuating the building now."

"What about you?" I asked, because he was still in his uniform.

"I'll be fine, I work out." He assured me. I laughed at little; happy he could make me smile. I pulled on my coat and boots, and then I slipped my phone into my pocket and snagged my umbrella. I then turned to Kamui.

"Let's go." I said, and we hooked arms and ran to the nearest exit, out into the cold winter night.


	3. Maybe you are your brother's keeper, Rin

Rin

I watched as Len packed away his keytar. He swung it over his shoulder so quickly that I didn't have much time to think about it. I stood up and looked him in the eyes.

"Where are we going now?" I asked.

"Home. We need to get supplies," he said. "Mom wants us to flee the city." My eyes widened in horror.

"What?" I shouted.

"She didn't have time to explain…she just…" Len started to pass me. I grabbed his arm and pulled him back with all the strength I could muster without knocking him over.

"NO!" I shouted "No, you are going to tell me what you talked about! Why are we leaving? Is she coming with us?" I was frantic. Everything good in my life was here: High school, my friends, Piko. I didn't understand the situation… then I figured, Len wasn't being serious, he was just playing right? I heard his side of the conversation; I knew mom said we had to… run?

"Please tell me you're joking, that was just a prank call and you were trolling. Please," I said leaning forward.

"I wish I was," Len said, I held his gaze, he looked scared. My poor little twin. I took his hand reassuringly.

"If it's serious, then we have to comply, come on. Let's go home and pack…" I said, my brow furrowed and we began to run together. I held my umbrella tightly at my side, it took us a while but we reached home. Once we were in, I turned and locked the door. I grabbed a chair and jammed it under the doorknob.

"We won't get anywhere in the dark," I said. "It's best that we sit tight for now, and pack heavy, If we're leaving the city we'll need a lot of food, and ways to contact people." I said, thinking logically. Len had put his keytar down and was opening the pantry, pulling out all the non-perishables.

"Get a bag," he said. I nodded and stripped off my winter clothes; I ran into the storage room and pulled out a pair of large duffel bags. Back when Dad was alive, our family liked to go camping and these were the bags we used for clothes and things. I then reached as far back as I could and dragged out a cooler. I popped it up onto its wheels and dragged it into the kitchen.

"I'll go pack my clothes, and electronics," I said; Len nodded as he began filling the cooler and his bag with food. "D-do you want me to pack clothes for you too? What about mom?"

"Whatever you think we'll need," he said, obviously focused on the task at hand. I turned quickly to my room, I opened my drawers and packed one week of clothes, and three heavy sweaters. I grabbed my school bag and ran to the bathroom; I packed a bar of soap, shampoo, and a few towels. I also packed in some hair ties, and a few hair clips. Never know when you'll need 'em you know? I went back to my room; I pulled my phones' charger out of the socket in the wall and threw it in the duffel bag, along with my wallet, nightclothes, and a teddy bear.

I picked up the duffel bag and went into Len's room, I packed him one week of clothes at random, and his phone charger, and then I gently packed his iPad into my schoolbag. Finally I moved onto mom's room. I picked out her clothes and carefully folded them into the bag. I zipped up the now full duffel bag and walked back into the living room. Len was lying asleep on the sofa, the full cooler and duffel bag next to him. I placed mine next to his and fell asleep beside them all.

All the worries then drifted away into a quiet, dreamless sleep. I didn't open my eyes again until seven the next morning.

I was woken up by Len pushing my shoulder.

"Rin. Wake up, we gotta go,"

I groaned and opened my eyes. "Did mom make it home?" I asked standing up.

"No." Len said quietly, he was already in his outerwear, the bag of food slung over his right shoulder, and his keytar case over his left shoulder. I stood up quickly and pulled on the outerwear that I had taken off. The garish colours hurt my tired eyes, but I suppose that was my fault to begin with. I picked up the bag with clothes and the bag with toiletries, I pulled both over my shoulders and then I grabbed the cooler's handle. I walked so I was standing next to Len.

"Where will we go?" I asked him. He stared forward blankly; I could tell he was considering the answer carefully.

"The hospital, where mom works, we can find some information there." Len said turning to me, I nodded, and with that we left the house, one final time. I felt the sting of the cold air on my face as we stepped out into the icy morning. The snow had really fallen that night. It was about four inches thick, that's heavy for Tokyo. It was difficult to drag the cooler through the snow. I did it though. I dragged that cooler all the way to the bus-stop and much further besides.

"Do we have money?" Len asked. I set the duffel bag down and unzipped it, I pulled out my wallet.

"We don't have a whole lot. It's enough for a little while anyway." I said handing him his wallet. I then zipped up the duffel bag and swung it over my shoulder again.

"What else did you pack?" Len asked as he put his wallet into his pocket.

"Clothing, toiletries, phone chargers, money, and your iPad." I said and Len gave me a funny look. "What?" I asked

"Why'd you pack my iPad? We don't need that." He said his face was coated in confusion, normally I would have laughed, but the situation didn't call for a laugh. I tried to keep a straight face and calmly explain why I had packed the iPad.

"Well, it connects to the internet right? You never know when we'll need to get on Google Maps or something; it has road games, and all your music.

"Pfwoo." Len exhaled, "I suppose you're right… I just sort of figured we'd be roughing it."

"Roughing it?" I smiled at his disappointed face, and let my serious face fall completely into laughter I just couldn't hold it in any longer. "Hhahaha! Roughing it in Tokyo?" I fell over into the snow and continued to laugh; the whole idea was just hilarious to me! Tokyo was so modern! How could you rough it here?

"It isn't that funny, stop laughing." Len said straight faced. I couldn't stop though; it's a weakness of mine, once I start laughing it is very hard for me to stop. I held my sides, they had started hurting, and I gasped trying to breathe, trying unsuccessfully to stop laughing.

"RIN!" Len said, he fell beside me and grabbed my shoulder really hard. I stopped laughing abruptly and hiccuped. "Rin, normally I wouldn't mind, but this is serious! This is no time to fall over laughing. Come on, get up, we need to be ready for the bus!" I could hear the sternness in his voice. It was unusual and foreign to me. I stood up carefully; I stared at the back of his neck with concern. He looked so tense; my poor little brother, so tense. I wanted to reach out to him. I wanted to touch his shoulder, and let him know I was still there, but I was afraid. I was afraid he might snap at me again. Afraid we'd be pushed further apart.

So I stood silently, waiting for the bus to arrive. It was cold; I could feel the chilly wind caress my face and my ears time and time again. I wished I had my earmuffs, but I had forgotten them at Piko's the last time we met. Then it occurred to me, Piko! Piko would be able to help us! Wouldn't he?

I reached into my pocket and pulled my phone out; I navigated to the speed dial list. Utatane, Piko, I pressed the number and listened for the dial tone.

"Hello? Rin?" Piko asked in sleepy tone. "It's six, on Christmas break, what are you doing up so early?"

"I need your help, Len and I have to get out of the city, but we need to find our mother too, Len's really tense, and the buses don't run until eight. Do you think you could help us get to the hospital where she works? I know your dad has a car…"

"My dad's away on business this week, he took the car," Piko answered "but I can go with you and Len-kun, just let me get dressed, stay warm, I'll be there within the half hour." Then he hung up. I groaned, sure, it'd be nice if he came along, though it wasn't what I was expecting. I slid my phone in my pocket, and stood next to Len.

"Piko's going with us, to the hospital I mean." I said trying to be gentle and reassuring.

"Great…" Len said looking away.

"You know, your abrasiveness isn't helping." I said sternly, "I know you're worried, and so am I. But you're getting nowhere acting like that." I narrowed my eyes and pulled Len's face towards me, forcing him to look at me "don't turn your head away, I'm talking to you."

"'I know!" Len yelled pulling my hands off of his jaw. "I'm just trying to focus!" he sighed and looked at the ground. "I'm sorry." I could tell he was tired and worried, and I wished I could help, but I'm not good with tired or worried. I'm the red oni, the happy one, the smiling one. Len's the blue oni… I only wished we could switch places for just this once!

I slipped my hand in my pocket and waited for a text from Piko, he didn't live far from where we were, but he wasn't one for running or walking in snow. He was athletic, but he was a sprinter, not a cross country runner. I worried for his safety more than our own. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, I pulled off my mitten and looked at the text. Piko was about halfway there, according to the text. I slipped my phone back in my pocket and waited for what seemed like a forever in the silence.

When Piko finally made it, the time was about 7:20am. I greeted Piko with a hug. I reached up around his neck and gave him a squeeze, I smiled when he said 'hello'.

"Hey," I said letting go of his neck "Let's go." I turned to Len and shook his shoulder, blankly he looked at me, his eyes were unfocused and his face was a bit cold. "Hey, Len, Piko's here, let's go. It's a long walk." Len sighed and adjusted the bag on his shoulders, I reached to pick up the ones I had been carrying, grabbing the cooler first, I reached for the duffel bag, but it wasn't there, I looked up and around, I saw that Piko had picked it up, he had slung it around his shoulder and was smiling. I hoped the bag was fully zipped; it would be embarrassing if someone other than family got covered in our clothes.

I reached out and took Len's hand and Piko's too in my other hand and we moved across the empty street. It was strange, things had become unbearably silent in that month, and we lived very near the more residential areas of Tokyo, so I figured that many people were away on the holidays. However, now I was a little more suspicious of it.

After several blocks of nothing we began to hear the sounds of people going to work, we didn't want to take the bus, even though they were running now, there would be no point at this time. We were within blocks of the hospital and could almost see it from where we were. The tall building stood out among the many smaller buildings, and we moved towards it, slowly and silently. I looked at Len, he was still tense, I could tell that without looking at him, he would breathe slowly and his face was rigid and stern.

I wished I knew what to say. I wanted to say something, but I was afraid I would make the situation worse. The last thing we needed was to fight. What we needed to do now was get mom and get to safety. I squeezed Len's hand, just to let him know I was there. He relaxed a little and even smiled. I suppose he only needed someone to tell him it was OK and that he wasn't alone.

"So, why do you need to leave town?" Piko asked, I looked at him, then at Len, Len was the one who received the phone call he knew the situation better than I did.

"I'm not exactly sure why, I got a call from our mother at about seven or earlier last night, and she said we needed to get out as soon as we could, and that she would meet up with us." He said. Piko's eyebrows furrowed, I frowned and looked at him I wish I could tell what he was thinking.

"Then we should pick up the pace." Piko said. I thought he was taking it all rather well. What kind of guy, in the history of the world is okay with his girlfriend leaving the city? My mouth went straight and I stared forward, in an almost frown. I'd have to ask him this question when the situation was less dire.

Piko broke into a run and my hand slipped form his. I let go of Len's hand and ran after him. I looked back at my brother, to make sure he was keeping up. We crossed block after block as fast as we could before we reached the hospital. I stopped behind Piko; he had dropped the duffel bag in the snow. I looked first up and down at him, he was standing with his legs spread open making a triangle over the snow, his arms were bent at his sides, and his hands were in front of him as if he was holding something invisible in front of himself.

His jaw was slack and his pale blue eyes were wide with shock. I looked in front; a wire fence with yellow caution tape surrounded the perimeter. The tape read "Quarantined". Now it was my turn to be shocked, eventually, Len caught up with us, I turned to him and fell into his chest. I felt my brother's arms wrap around me tightly, I could feel his blood pulse, and I could feel his pulse quicken with worry and fear.

"Don't panic… don't panic…" I heard him mutter to himself, I turned around a little bit, just enough to see a person limp towards us from the other side of the fence.

"Hello?" I heard Piko say "Hello, sir we-" I saw out of the corner of my eye the person lunge over the fence at Piko, and Piko fell back. I closed my eyes, only to hear that fabulous kid with silver hair scream and the sound of him hitting the snow.


	4. Kamui, you got some splainin' to do

Kamui

I remember a lot of running was done that night, from the hospital to my apartment. I had Lily by the arm and we were running as fast as we could. It was cold; my fingers and toes went numb quickly because I was not wearing any winter gear. I looked back as little as possible; I knew I'd be in trouble when this was all over, running when I should have stayed to help. Though I was sure I was not the only one that ran.

"Wait!" I stopped and turned to Lily who had spoken. "We should take a bus…" She said. I could see the distraught look on her face. "We should take a bus to your home, so you can get some proper clothes on." I stopped to look at her for a moment, her blue eyes were tired and her blonde hair had wayward strands flying everywhere in the wind, falling out of what was once a neat and tidy little ponytail. I nodded in agreement with her.

"Yes, but maybe a taxicab would be better." I replied; I turned my head to the street. It wasn't as busy as it normally was. The snow had taken care of most of the cars; no one would want to be out in this weather if they didn't have to be. I took Lily's hand and we walked down to the snow-covered sidewalk. I waved my left arm wildly and tried to flag down a cab.

The mustard yellow cars refused to slow up they just continued to drive by. I put my arm down in defeat and sighed. I brushed a handful of loose purple hair out of my face. I gritted my teeth and squeezed Lily's hand. I looked down at her and furrowed my brow. Lily, lovely refined Lily nodded to me. She slowly pried her hand away from mine.

From there she calmly walked out to the edge of the sidewalk, she waited patiently for a cab to come into her view. I watched her elegantly step into the street; she spread her feet out into a firm stance. The cab drew closer, and closer. I started to panic and almost ran to knock her out of the way of the cab. Lily held her arms out in front of her spreading her fingers out like a fan.

"STOP!" she shouted. I stepped off the ground too quickly I slid on the snow and fell on my breastbone. I closed my eyes in pain, my heart raced when I heard the cab screech to a stop. I opened my eyes and shot up quickly to assess the damage.

I looked up to see Lily barely touched; the cab had stopped about a foot in front of her. I sighed out of pure relief. Lily stepped up to the cab window, she spoke with the cab driver who nodded, and I walked up to the cab as well. I looked at Lily who nodded. I opened the cab door and slid in. Lily sat next to me. I sighed again.

"I'm sorry, but it was the only way to get him to stop." Lily said to me. I nodded but didn't say much else. She smiled warmly and pointed to the cabby. "Um, I'm sure you know how to get to your home?"

"Right!" I exclaimed sitting up in surprise, I leaned forward and recited the address of my building. The cabby nodded, I leaned back and pulled my wallet out of my pocket. Ready to pay when we arrived. The drive felt long, and I felt sleepy. I looked over at Lily who yawned; I resisted the urge to put my arm around her shoulders. I had to stay professional; she and I were co-workers… co-workers on a first name basis, going back to my flat to have a cup of tea and explain… explain the zombie that was being kept in the basement of the hospital where we used to work…

Yeah nothing romantic about it, unfortunately… However much I wished that it could be. I winter coat. Her gloves were soft and white; her boots were white as well. White… the colour of snow, and the colour of innocence. She sure wore a lot of it. I thought about Luka back at the flat, I wondered if any of her clothes would fit. Though, I wasn't about to ask my roomie's girlfriend if I could borrow her clothes. I turned my head to the other side of the car and looked out the window. I saw the people walking in to classy clubs, and theatres.

Men and their girlfriends, nothing stood out much, save one pair in particular, a man with slicked back blue hair wearing a white tux, and a deep blue silk scarf. He was walking into a theatre with his wife. Her short hair was pulled back by white hairclips, her curvy figure was covered in a long red silk dress, she was wearing black silk gloves over her arms and her shoulders were covered by an expensive black fur-lined cape. She was cuddling up to her husband, laughing like a child. I looked at their faces, they were so happy. I rested my head on the cold glass and imagined myself as the gentleman with blue hair.

I closed my eyes and imagined what life would be like if I was rich and married. I'd live in a mansion, way out in the countryside. I'd do all my business on the computer, and would never go into the city. No flat, no roommate, just me, my wife and our children. I thought about the man's wife, and imagined what my wife would look like. No matter how hard I tried not to, I would always imagine a small-framed woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes. I always would, whether I wanted to or not.

I opened my tired eyes again; I watched the world go by, as the buildings became less elegant, and more middle class. I came to the sad realization as to why I spent all day at work. My home sucked. I was really just a tiny two bedroom one bathroom flat. One I had to share with another guy and his bitchy girlfriend to boot. Now, I had known Hiyama since high school. He and I used to be the closest of Bros. then we went to college, then Luka came along.

Luka was a hottie; she had a nice body, could hold her liquor, and had beautiful long pink hair. She was a bitch in sheep's clothing. Her temper was nothing short of terrifying, and she was rude to me, to Hiyama, hell to her own parents. Though strangers would never know this, her teachers would never know this, nor would her boss. She always acted nice to them. Never letting her façade slip until the right moment, or at least, that was how I saw it.

The cab stopped and I pulled out the fee and handed it to the Cabby. I stepped out, suddenly remembering that it was winter, I ran to the other side of the cab to open the door for Lily. She stepped out slowly; I took her hand like a gentleman and walked her to my home.

Little was said on the walk up, but when we got to the flat, I opened the door to a very off-putting visual. I pushed Lily back before she could see; I closed the door quickly and turned around to Lily.

"You know I live with an old school mate and his girlfriend right?" I asked her quickly.

"I do now." She laughed

"Then… wait out here…" I said blushing and smiling awkwardly. I reopened the door and slid in stealthily. I turned around with my eyes covered.

"Okay, Hiyama. I will ignore the fact that you and Luka were about to do the nasty on _my_ couch if you can both be decent in five minutes." I stated Dryly, making my presence in the room _very_ clear.

"Well, Kamui's home!" I heard Hiyama say in a chipper over-the-top positive tone. I groaned as I heard movement form the centre of the room. I looked down at my watch, and looked up, Luka was fairly decent at least, and Hiyama had left the room; with good reason, probably.

"You're sure home early" She said fluffing out her pink hair. Her shirt remained half unbuttoned as she leaned back putting her feet on my coffee table. Her black nylons stretched over her fine feet and shapely legs. Her arms were spread wide on the couch; I could see the chips in her pink nail polish as well as the small sweat stains underneath her arms. I tried not to wretch with disgust. I opened the door and welcomed Lily into my apartment.

It was a nice space, good sized, not a total dump. I tried to keep the coffee table clear, and the entry way free of anything but shoes. The TV was small, but hey, we had cable and that was what was important. The couch was light blue and good sized enough for at least three people to sit comfortably and argue over the TV show. The floor was simple, made of wood, covered with area rugs where they were needed. I took my shoes off at the door before walking in.

"Come on in, Lily-chan; just leave your shoes there." I pointed to the space next to my shoes; Lily nodded sliding her feet out of her boots. I led her into the main room of the flat; we slipped through the short entry hall. I yawned and looked through the hallway; it was like there was a small window from the door to the living room.

I saw Luka turn her head slowly towards me and Lily, her mouth opened up in an "O" shape and she immediately buttoned her shirt up the rest of the way. She stood up quickly and walked over to me and Lily, a curious look on her slim oval face.

"Who is this?" She asked sweetly her open mouth pulling into a smile "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No, Kagamine-san is a co-worker." I said tensing up, trying to keep myself in between Luka and Lily.

"Oooh~ I see~" Luka giggled, she looked at Lily with that smile, that sweet smile that looked so genuine I wanted to believe it. I sighed heavily; there was no getting past it. I just stepped aside, and let the stepford-smiler have at it.

"Hello," Lily said shyly, she was so cute; I turned my head away where Luka couldn't see me smile. I stared at the left wall of the room, and just listened to Lily and Luka talk.

"Hi!" I heard Luka say "I'm Luka Megurine; you can call me by my given name."

"Lily Kagamine, but please, call me Lily-chan." My heart skipped a little, and I felt a small amount of jealousy towards Luka. Never did I once in ten years of working with Lily ever get such forward permission to call her by her first name, honorific or not. I just sort of did, and when she didn't object I figured she didn't mind. I felt rather rude now, I should have been more aware of her feelings on the situation.

I shook my head; I didn't need to think about that. There were more important things at stake. I turned back to the conversation Lily and Luka were having.

"I'm sorry Kiyoteru is a little busy at the moment." Luka laughed, I wanted to gag. Why my couch? Of all the places they could have fucked why my couch? In the middle of the living room! Rooms exist for a reason. Heel! _Beds_ exist for a reason. What was Hiyama's room exclusive for sleeping? I put a good guess that it was Luka's idea; wouldn't she just _love_ it if my furniture got ruined? That was what I thought at the time anyhow.

"That's fine; you can fill him in later." Lily smiled "From what I saw you two were rather close." I could have shouted out of joy! Lily was awesome! Nearly in her middle age with two kids and she still had some fire to her. Of course it would be odd to shout "yes" randomly, so I just settled for a wild beaming smile instead. Luka was taken aback by Lily's comment and she covered her mouth and blushed.

_"That'll teach her to fuck on my couch."_ I thought, I walked over to my couch and plopped down on its right cushion, remembering slowly that there were more things at stake than my petty revenge on the girl who turned my best friend into an asshole. I rested my feet on the coffee table and my arm on the armrest.

"You two sit down!" I purred, "A lot has happened this evening, and I think an explanation may be in order!" I smiled like a total ham. Luka took her seat first. She sat on the far left end of the couch. Her body was turned to me and she was leaning back in much the same way as me. Her legs were crossed so that she looked feminine and elegant. It wasn't going to work on me. Her sweet act would never work on me.

Lily sat in between us. She sat straight with her legs un-crossed. She was still wearing her work clothes. If there was time I would have to offer her a shower. Not with me of course, by herself to get cleaned up before we left.

"So…" Luka said drawing out her words "Kamui-san, you got some 'splainin' to do it seems." She smiled an awful plastic smile; showing her teeth just a little, a look of impatience on her firm little trashy features. I smiled even more, I couldn't wait to reveal the information I knew.

"Kamui," I heard Lily say firmly and with urgency. "This is no time to fuss over whatever differences you may have, that can wait. This, what you have to say, cannot." I gulped down whatever saliva I had left in my mouth. I sat up and move my feet. I turned to Lily and Luka too, I guess.

"Right, so basically, VY1 was an experimental case." I said I licked my lips, trying to moisten them. I could feel the dryness in my mouth and throat. I closed my eyes and explained all that I could remember. I tried not to go into detail, though I couldn't help but remember all that happened.

"It was about six months ago…" I said, I remembered walking into the labs of the hospital. It was going to be a big break in medical discovery. The hospital was going to be famous; we'd all get raises to our salaries. I'd be able to move out of my flat and into a house, a _house._ "I was introduced to the project." Fresh from getting my doctorate in biology; it was the first time I actually had voice in a project. I wasn't an intern anymore. No more did Kamui Gakupo have to live in a mediocre apartment with his old friend from high school and his shitty girlfriend.

"Go on." Luka urged calmly. I tried to swallow and I licked my lips again.

"She was referred to as a specimen" I said, my eyes unfocused as I remembered, first meeting VY1. She had long dark hair and her eyes were covered by a blindfold. I remembered her twitching and struggling. Not twenty-four hours beforehand had she had a name, a face, and a family; she was a person, not twenty-four hours before I saw her. It was just fate that she happened to be bitten by what they thought was a rabid animal. "When I met her they were sedating her for the first time," I explained slowly.

"I was told that it was a virus in her nervous system. Like Rabies but worse; patient VY1 was legally dead." I closed my eyes and shook my head "No, no, I can't quite explain it…" I took a deep breath and heard the door to Hiyama's room open and close, I also heard Luka speak.

"Teru-kun!" I heard her exclaim "Quick get Kamui-kun some water, then sit down, he's explaining things." My brow furrowed, that was the last thing I needed to hear, Luka's sickeningly smooth, sweet voice. Calling Hiyama by a pet name; how could he stand it?

"So, she died, and the virus took over?" Lily asked in a confused tone I nodded.

"Essentially, anyway, it was my job as a biologist to study the virus, and the job of Dell Honne and his crew to find a vaccine, maybe even a cure." I took another deep breath; I opened my eyes halfway and looked over to Hiyama who was setting a bottle of water down on the coffee table. I picked up the water bottle and unscrewed the cap slowly I took a long drink of it. I swallowed the water and closed my eyes again letting loose another deep breath.

"It was very mild for a time, she was quiet so long as she was sedated, and however she started building a resistance to the sedation. We had to be extra careful because the infection spread thought the blood. If she bit you, you would catch it; the VY virus." I took another gulp of water. "Because the hospital wanted to keep the project a secret no one else knew the cautions you were supposed to take."

I opened my eyes to see two of the three others looking at me intently, Hiyama was sitting on the arm of the couch, and his brown hair fell in his face and over his dark brown eyes loosely. His glasses were pushed dup his nose and his brow was furrowed. He was skinny, though not too skinny; you couldn't see any ribs on him or anything. He was wearing a loose white T-shirt and loose blue jeans. His fingers were laced and resign over his knees, he was leaning forward.

Luka's mouth was wide open and her blue eyes were shocked, her arms were folded over each other, she looked like she was hugging herself around the shoulders. Lily was rigid, her eyes fixed on the floor. I took another breath, and closed my eyes again.

"She must have escaped somehow, and even if she only bit one person, that was a start." I breathed in and out slowly. "I wouldn't give those in the hospital the night." I opened my eyes again, I looked at Lily. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was a thin straight line.

"That's why we had to run…" she whispered, I knew what she was thinking about now, she was thinking of her kids, her children.

"How old are they?" I asked her softly, putting a cautious hand on her shoulder.

"Who?" Luka asked as she crossed her legs on the couch, she reached out to Lily also trying to comfort her.

"My children," Lily said vacantly "They're only fifteen today…" I saw her eyes gloss over, a single tear dripped from the inner corner of her eye down her face. Luka pulled her arm around Lily and rocked her back and forth slowly.

"It's okay, it's okay, you're okay." She said softly, "come, let's get you in some better clothes."

Lily nodded and allowed Luka to lead her off to the bathroom. I breathe deeply and turned to Hiyama. Hiyama moved to the couch cushion, his mouth was open and he looked bewildered.

"That's a lot to take in…" He said "will we have to go too?"

"If we can help it." I said "We should leave by tomorrow at the latest."

"Why not now?" Hiyama asked "If it is so urgent, why can't we leave now?"

"Because, I hat calling for cabs and Lily's had a long day. Besides, we need time to pack." I stood up slowly. "I'm going to put on some night clothes and help Luka set up a futon for Lily; you should get started packing." Hiyama nodded and left to his room. I walked to my room and checked the clock. It was one o'clock in the morning. I took a long deep sigh. It was going to be a long night.


	5. Promise me, Piko

Hello… It's me again... Sebastian, the author…

I'm happy that this has gotten such great reviews! I've had some struggles, but as I fill in the characters things will get easier, I must be strong! \ (^o^) / HWWWAAA! That aside, here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for; the main conflict. Please, enjoy.

Piko

I felt my life flash before my eyes; all of it from being born to this very moment. My heart raced as I fell in the snow. I screamed as I dropped. I opened my eyes quickly, I moved as far away from the fence as I could.

"STEP BACK EVERYBODY!" I shouted, there was no reasoning with this sir, his eyes were glazed over, blood trickled form in between his lips and covered his front. The zombie groaned low and loud. I looked around me for something I could whap him with. I looked everywhere, from tree branches to pipes. I looked at Len; he was still holding Rin in his arms. I looked him over, what did he have on him, a duffle bag and… a case. What was the case for?

I searched through my memories quickly thinking of what it could be, and then I remembered, Len played the Keytar. I dashed beside him and tore Rin form his arms. The zombie was coming fast; it had started to climb over the short fence. It was headed straight for us.

"BEAN IT WITH YOUR KEYTAR _NOW_!" I ordered. Len didn't need to be told twice, he whipped the keytar out of its case on his back like lightning, and he waited for it to get in his swinging range.

**WHAM! **The keytar it the zombie like a truck hits a squirrel. Len's blue eyes narrowed in fear and fury. He gritted his teeth and swung the keytar over his right shoulder; he swung it forward and hit the zombie again, and again. Blood sprayed everywhere I closed my eyes and covered Rin's. It was gruesome, the bones in the zombie's face broke with loud cracks, and yet it still stood.

"IT ISN'T DYING!" I heard Len scream in fear.

"AIM FOR THE BODY; KNOCK IT OVER THEN RUN!" I shouted, I opened my eyes and let Rin go. I dashed behind the Zombie and grabbed a post from the fence. I yanked with all my might and tried to pull it out. I turned to see Len bean the zombie in the mid body. He hit the zombie to the left as hard as he could. It slid in the snow, leaving a great bloody and red trail behind it. Len ran back until he was sure he was out of its reach. I looked at Rin; she ran and picked up the bag I had dropped and the cooler that she had been carrying.

Len Ran up to her and grabbed her hand, they ran to the other side of the hospital. I looked back at the zombie; it was trying to stand up. I yanked even harder at the fence post. Finally, on my third try I managed to pull it up. I took the heavy fence post in both my hands and ran to help the twins. It was heavy and made of metal. The fence itself was chain-link, simple, and must have just been placed that night. The cold metal was uncoated, and unpolished. I looked back at the hole that was now in the fence.

Shit man, I probably made it possible for any other zombies to get out. Thought all the more I thought about it the dumber the people who put up the fence were. They should have made the fence electric, and then it'd zap away the zombie problem one by one. All the zombies had once been human, so it stands to reason that electricity would kill them. God, did they _never_ watch horror movies? I made sure I had a good baseball bat like grip on the post's top end, leaving the sharp stick-in-the-ground end out, and ready to tear into any attacking zombies.

It took some time but I caught up with the Kagamines rather quickly. We were in the middle of an eerie quiet park area outside the hospital. The trees stood tall and bare, like fingers raising the pale morning sky up, with each branch holding onto cold frozen snow. The scene would have been stunning, even beautiful, if it weren't for the situation. I looked at Rin; her short choppy blonde hair had fallen into her face and over one of her wide blue eyes. I strained a smile holding the fence post to my right side.

Rin ran up to me, and looked me in the eyes. I looked down at her worried.

"You need to go home…" she said faintly as she brushed a strand of hair out of my eyes.

"No.' I said simply, "you think you can get through this all on your own?' I asked my shoulders tensed, I wasn't leaving her behind now. Not now, not ever. I vowed at that moment, I would never _ever_ abandon Rin, or her brother.

"_Please…" _Rin pleaded. I shook my head.

"No. Now let's go." I smiled and let go of the fence post with my right hand. With that hand I grabbed Rin's left hand. My gloveless hands were growing numb with cold, but my blood was warm, and I couldn't be bothered to stop. I smiled and with zeal in my step I ran to Len.

"Hi there Len! I'm joining your party now, okay? Thanks! Bye! You have no say in the matter!" I said giddily. Len laughed his once cold and sour face peeling into a deep and genuine smile of joy.

"Not my first choice in a zombie apocalypse." He said in the midst of hearty laugher. His keytar was in his left hand over his shoulder. The black plastic was dripping in sticky dark red blood. His vivid blue eyes reminded me of fire. I smiled too, and I looked at Rin to find her smiling as well. I laughed out loud. I let go of Rin's hand and sidestepped around her, I held my fencepost over my right shoulder. I waited there for them to come.

One by one, they slid in through the trees, eyes glossy and nails dirty. They were falling apart, and so was reality. I swung first at a zombie, I heard the 'gush' sound as the sharp end of my fencepost tore through its middle, intestines spilled out, but that wouldn't stop a zombie. What we really needed were guns, but they weren't allowed in Japan, not unless you were the police.

That didn't mean we didn't have a fighting chance. I mean, if we died I wouldn't be sitting here, discussing it with you! I heard Len's keytar crack as it hit a zombie. It was sturdy for an instrument constructed out of electronics and plastic. The zombie in front of me lunged; I swung at it from the left, hooking it by the neck. I heard a crack and the Zombie fell twitching. I flipped my head around to look at how Len was doing. He was doing well, in fact really well. He had choked up on his keytar's neck and was hitting the zombies at a closer range, but with more power. I looked at Rin sitting in the middle, covering her head, surrounded by her boyfriend and her brother, with no weapon to speak of.

I almost felt sorry for her, but I knew better, Rin was resourceful. She would know what to do when she had to. I turned back to the zombies on my side. I made sure to swing out as far as I could. I tried to clip the zombies by their throats. I clenched my teeth together tightly, my eyebrows creased. I focused. Taking out all I could in a single swing. I looked back at Rin. She was standing on her feet again. The cooler was in her hands. She was grabbing up all the stuff of the ground, the duffle bags and the cooler. She waited for Len to kill one last zombie before giving him one of the bags. I turned to her and took the second bag.

"Let's go to my house, we need to get some weapons…" I said I turned around to Len. He nodded. I linked arms with Rin and she grabbed the cooler by its handle. We dashed though the park back to the street. The world became a blur in the run from the hospital to my home. I didn't feel the stares of the people we passed; they would soon know why we were running.

It crossed my mind once or twice to warn them, but that would only cause problems for us three. I knew that no one would believe in such things until they saw it for themselves. We reached my street a whole hour from when we first arrived, I sighed in relief. I turned to Rin and Len.

"We'll have to drop the duffle bags, and the cooler." I said, "If we are to pack anything now we should pack water, food you can always find, but water? No, we need to pack water."

"You seem to know what you're talking about." Len commented.

"Yes, I do, and you should listen to me." I said. I brushed hair out of my face. "If you must bring a change of clothes bring one for each person, and maybe extra underwear." Rin nodded, and so did Len. "Okay, let's go." I said and form there we walked quickly to my house. I unlocked the door and let Rin and Len in first. I dropped the duffle bag on the ground as did Len. I sat down my fence post and ran to my father's room. I opened his closet and looked for his old army uniform. On its belt was a small but sharp knife, good for a lot of things, like killing zombies.

I found the uniform deep in the back, and the belt and knife in a box underneath the uniform. I fastened the belt to my pants and left my father's room. Over the mantel piece in the family room a sheathed sword sat on a pair of display hooks. I reached up and pulled it down. I pulled the sword out of the sheath carefully, I had never used a sword like this before, but desperate times called for desperate measures. The edge was as sharp as it was when my grandfather had used it in the war over fifty years ago. I carefully re sheathed the sword and slid it in one of my left belt loops.

I looked at my grandfather's urn, a picture of him as a young man sat next to a picture of him and my grandmother on their wedding day. I walked over to the table and kneeled.

` "Forgive me, Grandfather, for I am about to leave my family unprotected, I am wronging them.' I took in a long deep breath "I can only hope that in some way my honour will be restored." I closed my eyes and stood up. I turned to see my mother in the door way.

"Piko-kun, what is going on?" She asked in surprise. "You're covered in blood, Piko1 what happened?" I turned to her; I felt my eyes tear up. I walked over to her slowly and hugged her around the neck. I was nearly her height. I held onto her for nearly a minute.

"I'm sorry mom, but I have to go. I've made a promise…" I said, tears fell down my cheeks and my mother hugged me back.

"Why don't you tell me what happened? I'll help you and the others get ready." She said kissing my cheek and forehead. I nodded and began to recall everything that happened since I woke up that morning. My mother nodded, her blue-green eyes closed as she listened. When I finished telling her she stood up.

"I will help you pack." She said plainly.

"Wait… just like that?" I asked "No 'You must protect your family' no 'What would your father say?" My mouth dropped in surprise. "Are there any other weapons I could take? Like a baseball bat, the hatchet?"

"If you are talking about the small hatchet in the garage, no, you cannot take that, I'll need it. You can take your dad's golf clubs, and the baseball bat we bought you that you never use."

"I'm sorry I'm leaving…" I muttered.

"Don't think on it, I can take care of myself and your father if I have to." I nodded and followed her out. I looked at Len who was cleaning off his Keytar.

"Keep that, but don't use it again unless you have to." I told him "it would be a shame if the last Keytar on earth was used to smash Zombies." Len laughed.

"Do you have anything else?" He asked I nodded and went into the garage. I pulled out my dad's old golf clubs and a dusty old metal baseball bat. I came back in and sat them on the ground. "You get the baseball bat or the golf clubs, whichever you don't take Rin gets."

"What about you?" Len asked "are you going to use the fencepost again?"

"I got a better weapon." I said tapping the hilt of the sword Len nodded. He reached over to the

Baseball bat and pulled it closer to him. He slid his keytar in its case and swung it over his shoulder. He picked up the bat and walked over to the door. I looked over to Rin and my mother; they were packing the cooler full of water bottles plus a jar of peanut butter and three spoons. I then saw Rin pack an old school bag of hers with a pair of clothes for each of us and… one extra person.

"Who's the extra pair of clothes for?" I asked

"Our mom, Lily, she may need them when we meet up with her." Rin said, she swung the bag over her shoulders and took the filled cooler's handle. She walked over to me and looked down at the golf clubs.

"Those are your weapon. I can carry them if you want." I smiled and picked up the golf clubs for Rin, she smiled and I pulled them over my shoulders. I felt like a battle caddy. I ran over to my mother and gave her one last hug and kiss on the cheek. I didn't know if I'd ever see her again, and I wanted to say one last good bye.

"I love you." I told her, and she hugged me back.

"I love you too. Stay safe." She let me go, almost too slowly. I thought back to her reaction when I told her what happened. She wasn't dumb; she was never a dumb woman. She had been a little wary and even sceptical at first, but I had never been known for telling her a lie.

"How do you know I'm not lying?" I asked her then.

"Hmm?" She asked.

"It's a valid question, why would you believe me about the zombies?" She looked out into space for a moment while she gathered her thoughts.

"You didn't hesitate to tell me." She finally answered, "Whenever you tell the truth you never hesitate. Now go, you haven't time to lose. Do not worry for my sake." I nodded and walked back to Rin and Len. I opened the door and allowed them to walk out, I followed slowly afterwards. Then off we went, off to go slay some zombies and reunite a family.


	6. Everyone dies, Teru kun

Authors Apology: I haven't updated in two weeks almost! I'm so sorry! I started school and things have been hectic. Obviously chapters won't be as regular now, sorry!

Kiyoteru

It was a shock to me that Gakupo came home so early. He worked at night usually and didn't get home until six am on average. It wasn't Luka's idea, no matter what you might be told. I never expected the reason he came home to be so jarring. Anyway, I suppose I should start from the hour we left the apartment…

It was about six; six in the morning that is. We had packed all we could into Luka's car. We dressed warmly; I remember Luka dressed in fashionable swag. Her long pink hair tied to the left side of her head in a low ponytail. Her blue eyes were covered by large pink-rimmed sunglasses. She was wearing tight blue skinny-jeans, and knee length high-heel boots. She was wearing a red turtleneck underneath a fur-lined overcoat. That was the nicest I would ever see her again. I sat next to her in the car while we waited for the others. She leaned next to me and I leaned back. We held hands by the heater vent, taking in its warmth and the warmth of each other.

I glanced out of the window I saw Gakupo walk out of the building with Lily. They were walking slowly. I looked at Lily; she was wearing the clothes that Luka had given her, the clothes that were too big for her thin body. I turned my eyes to Gakupo, he was looking forward and picking up his pave, Lily followed him right in tow. I tapped Luka's shoulder and she sat up preparing to drive.

"Where are we headed Gakupo?" Luka asked "The airport?"

"Not yet," Gakupo said "I want to get access to the files for this particular virus. Nothing will help if we can't continue the research.

"How will we get those?" I hear Lily ask "We are not going back to the hospital."

"No," I hear Gakupo say "The files are kept under lock and key by one Dell Honne." I turned my head around to look at him. For once he wasn't staring daggers at Luka. He was looking out the window with a glossy expression.

"Where can we contact this one Dell Honne?" I asked, and I heard Luka chuckle.

"One Dell Honne? As in there is more than one?" She asked I could tell that she was trying to lighten the mood. I looked at Gakupo as he laughed, I smiled, and perhaps they were finally getting along?

"Oh that would be a nightmare…" I hear him mutter; he shook his head and rubbed one of his eyes. "We'll have to go to his home, that's where the backup files are." He stated.

"Okay," Luka nodded, "How do I get there?" She asked

"I'll have to switch with Hiyama if I'm giving directions." He said, and I nodded reluctantly. I stepped out of the car and walked around to Gakupo's side, Gakupo slid form the back seat to the front clumsily and I opened the door to his side and too his seat. I buckled up and closed my eyes; I might as well get a little sleep. I could hear Gakupo talk to Luka, give her directions, I heard the car pull out into the street, and then I fell asleep.

I felt the bumpiness of the road, and the coolness of the window that I was leaning on. I was bumped around by the speed of Luka's driving. I'd have complained but really, it was her car, and could I do any better? I heard the three talk amongst themselves as I fell in and out of dreams. Some dreams were happy, and many more were sad. I dreamed several dreams of being married to Luka. We lived in a condo across the street from Gakupo; we were friends again. In others Luka and I had children and we lived outside the city, among other dreams of similar nature. Though most dreams felt sad, and many of those felt real.

In one such dream I was standing at an empty airport; my heart was racing I couldn't hear or see the others but I knew they were there, I could hear the eerie sound of the elevator music in the airport. I felt safe somehow, but alone. My shoes made a loud CLAK on the ground that I walked on. I could hear it louder than anything else. Many images of hallways and memories of hallways flickered to my mind, filling my vision like a collage. All of it filtered in colours of yellow and blue and green, sad colours, dying colours…

At last in the dream I stopped, I heard the far off babble of voices, I looked around frantically and felt a hand on my shoulder as I was shaken awake. I looked around disoriented. Lily's soft shaped face came into a fuzzy focus, I felt around my face and round me until I felt the hard plastic of my glasses. They had fallen off when I was leaning on the window. I put them on and looked around. The car was parked on the snowy curb of an apartment building. Luka and Gakupo were out walking up the steps; Lily was sliding out of the car ready to follow them. I turned around to my door and popped it open.

I saw Luka turn around and heard her ask Gakupo to wait for Lily and me. I stepped out of the car; my shoes crunched on the ground. I closed the car door loudly and walked up to Luka.

"What are we doing?" I asked her. "Why are we here?"

"We're going to talk to this Honne's sister; she has all the backup files on his research," Luka told me, "Gakupo and I were talking about it in the car. She's a bit of a drunk so it's best if we go in one at a time, so we don't scare her." I nodded. I watched Gakupo walk up to the door, he walked with caution, slowly creeping towards the doorknob. I heard the door click open loudly as he turned the unlocked door outward. The hinges creaked; the snow absorbed the noise into nothingness. All I could hear was the crunch of snow underneath my feet. I slowly approached the door, and followed Gakupo warily. I looked around the flat that we had walked into. It was messy and dank. I could smell the stench of tobacco and booze. I crumpled my nose in disgust. I looked at Gakupo ahead of me; he looked both left and right as he walked thought the winding entry hall.

He didn't bother in removing his shoes, he just walked in. the floorboards creaked under our weight, and the dim light made me squint.

"Wait here…" Gakupo said as he entered the living room, I peered in after him. I saw a woman with pale hair and dark red-brown eyes. She stared up at Gakupo and said in a whiny cracked voice.

"What do you want?" she asked, she stood up slowly, she held a clear slouch, her shoulders bunched she was in obvious pain.

"Long night?" Gakupo asked her, without even waiting for her to answer he continued. "Look, Haku-san, we need Dell's backup files, I know he gave you the flash. Where is it?"

Haku sat down and blinked, she was thinking. "It's in the drawer with the lock… I lost the key so you'll have to pick it." She said I stepped in without thinking, at the sound of my entrance Haku looked at me. Her eyes were puffy and red at the corners and her mouth was in a permanent frown. I wondered if there was more to her than just a drunk. Her breathing was choppy and her feet were curled into her body. Her toes crunched up and her feet pulled tightly to her.

"Are you alright?" asked her stepping close. She looked at me gingerly and gritted her teeth.

"Do I look alright?" She asked "Of course I'm not." Her long silver hair was greasy and dirty, it was pulled into a loose ponytail behind her head. I could smell her body odour; she hadn't bathed in a long while.

"Why are you like this?" I asked kneeling down to her level.

"I-" she started to say when I heard Gakupo say

"Hiyama, come and help me with this!" he called out I looked over to him struggling to open the drawer. What exactly he was doing I wasn't sure, I wasn't paying close attention.

"In a minute!" I called back, I turned back to Haku but she had closed her eyes as if she had fallen asleep. I reached out and ran my fingers through her dirty hair, trying to be comforting. I felt how cold she was, her head fell into her chest limply and her body relaxed. My eyes widened and I stepped back, breathing heavily. "_Did she just…"_ I thought, but my thoughts were cut off.

"HIYAMA!" Gakupo called. I ran over to him quickly.

"What is it?" I asked

"Help me get this open!" He grumbled, I picked up a paperclip off of the desk and unwound it.

"Here." I said handing him the wire.

"Thanks." Gakupo said sticking the wire into the lock and wiggling it around.

"I'm going to bring the girls in." I said. Gakupo nodded as he continued to be absorbed in his work.

I stepped past Haku carefully. If she was sleeping I didn't want to disturb her I walked to the door and opened it. The cold breeze was a shock; I looked to see Luka and Lily talking on the front step.

"You two want to come inside?" I asked them. Luka looked up at me she smiled and stood up; she reached over to Lily who stood up. Lily looked like she had been comforted at little. I was glad for that; I lead the two into the room with Haku and Gakupo. I looked at Haku again, she looked so pale… so cold. I picked up a blanket from the floor and gently draped it over Haku's quiet shoulders. I knew that it wouldn't make much difference. It just made everything sit well in my conscience. I turned to Luka who was staring at Haku sadly.

"That's…" She muttered, her eyes wetting a little. "How long has she been like that?" she asked.

"Less than fifteen minutes…" I said walking back to Luka, warm welcoming Luka. I pulled my arms around her, and just felt her warmth. Luka frowned and pushed me away. She walked over to Haku and began checking her for signs of life. She held up Haku's limp hand to her cheek, feeling for a pulse, and then she reached her hand out to feel for a pulse from Haku's neck. I walked over and kneeled beside Luka.

From behind me I heard Lily walk to the desk, I looked over and she was leaning forward on the desk. She and Gakupo were talking about opening the lock. I didn't listen closer, I figured the reason why we were here dealing with Beelzebub's pigsty would be revealed to me later. I turned my eyes back to Luka who was looking sadly at me.

"I think… that if she hasn't already died, she will by tonight…" Luka said. "I couldn't feel a pulse, or feel her breathing… I'm no doctor though, I may be wrong…" I hugged Luka tightly I buried my face into her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. Luka returned the squeeze and stood up, I let go of her and stood up as well. We laid the blanket over her head and body. I was careful that it was laid right, I was careful to be as respectful as possible.

I wondered why Haku had to die so suddenly, she was about to tell me why she was in pain, and she just… died, right there, no warning, no suffering. It was as if she willed it. I stared at the cloth covering her gravely, I felt Luka beside me lacing her fingers with mine.

"People die every day, Teru-kun." She said softly, I took in a long choppy breath and looked over at Lily and Gakupo, I heard a squeal of happiness from Gakupo. He leaped two feet in the air before opening the drawer that he unlocked. Out of it he pulled a small silver flash drive.

"I've got it! Five years of collaborate research, right here!" He smiled like a little kid at Christmas.

"So, why did we come all the way here for a flash drive?" Luka asked snippily, I frowned. There was no need for her to be snippy.

"Well, it is all the research on the virus; with this we may be able to stop this before it begins." Gakupo explained in a smug tone.

"Okay," Lily said stern tone, "Where to now?"

"Well, where's the nearest government hospital?" he asked.

"Half an hour away." Luka sighed

"To the car!" Gakupo shouted gleefully pointing outward. Luka sighed and almost laughed, she looked at me with a small smile and then she reached out and took Lily by the arm. Lily smiled and the followed Gakupo out of the flat.

I sighed and turned to Haku. The blanket draping her lifeless body depressed me more than the snow outside. I kissed the first two of my fingers and touched the blanket where Haku's forehead would be. I then turned and followed the others out to the car.


	7. Do you have a cigarette, Len?

Len

We left Piko's house at a quarter to eleven. Our shoulders were now light of burdens and we had some real weapons. I should have been starving for lunch; I hadn't eaten at all that day. I couldn't eat though, my stomach was too clenched; I felt too nervous and sick. I didn't want to think the worst would happen but that was all I could think would happen. We'd die, never see our mother again, Piko's efforts would be in vain.

I tried to think positively, I tried to imagine that we'd get out of it. That our mother was just a phone call away. I hoped she was, and I started to wonder why we had not tried calling her earlier. I promised myself, once we had a dry moment to give her a call. We walked down the street in silence. We were all waiting for Piko to speak.

He seemed to be in thought; his teal eyes looked at the ground intensely.

"You okay?" I asked him.

"I'm not sure…" He said solemnly. "I just left my family, for perhaps forever…" He walked ahead of me and Rin just a little I looked at Rin who also held a solemn gaze. I stared at the ground as well. It was sad really; all of us had things to lose, and nothing to gain from it. We were all unlikely heroes in this game; if you could even have called it a game.

We walked down in silence, many thoughts running through our mind. All of them different; but all of them were the same really.

_"What Now?"_

Such simple words, "What Now?" "What Now?" indeed. I looked up at the sky and swallowed my fear. It was time for me to grow up a little, and take responsibility.

"We should go back…" I said, "Back to the hospital. I want to know where Mum went…"

Rin turned and looked at me "Are you insane!" She cried; shocked that I would suggest such a thing. "Why would we go back to the place where it all started? That whole street's probably filled with zombies now! No way!" her blue eyes were wide with so many fears I probably couldn't count.

"No! Really think about it! The hospital will be empty!" I said "All the zombies will have left!"

"But what about the street?" Rin asked, she ran up to me and grabbed my arms, she stared into my eyes.

"What are you/" I asked trying to pull away.

"I'm checking to see if you're a zombie… I want to be sure you aren't leading us to all your zombie friends!"

"WHAT!" I said noisily; what was she on! The whole idea of it was ludicrous, sure I was covered in zombie blood and I did get very close to them, but I was never bitten.

Her face softened and she shook her head "I was joking, learn to take a joke…" She said abrasively. I got the feeling she didn't all mean that it was a joke. Then Piko came to the rescue.

"Rin, don't be so stubborn. Normally it's only mildly annoying, but right now is not the time." He said firmly "If Len wants to go back I think it's a good idea. There's a time and place for running, but we can't run now if we want to find where your mother is.

"But…" she said creasing her eyebrows and staring at the snow "What if she didn't make it?" She asked, I walked up to her and pulled her face up to mine gently.

"She made it, Rin. I know she did. There is no way someone could suffer so much strife then not survive something so little." I said smiling.

Rin chuckled sceptically "A zombie apocalypse is little?" She asked.

"Compared to us?" I asked "Yes, it is." Rin smiled and pushed me away.

"Lead the way." She choked as she held back scared sobs. I put an arm over the shoulder and hugged her.

"It's okay to be scared you know?" I whispered to her "I'm scared too; and though he doesn't act like it Piko's as scared as you and I." I breathe din slowly and kept whispering "but you know; it isn't that we're scared, it's that we can overcome that fear. So we can find mom, right?"  
>She nodded slowly "Right…" she said. I didn't know how well I reassured her, but I would go with it for now. I held her hand and in my other I held the bat that Piko had given me.<p>

"Ready to go?" Piko asked kindly.

"Ready." Rin nodded, and we went forth on to the path of adventure and almost adulthood. I don't know if there is anyone who has had the experiences we had in that year. Looking back I suppose the future seemed so bleak and hazy that we may have never reached this day if it weren't for each other. Hello without Piko, we wouldn't have survived that first day at all! He was incredibly resourceful. Before I had thought of him as just a pretty face and a charming personality, but he turned out being so much more. But I'm jumping ahead.

We walked down the same street, except it was no longer bustling or normal at all. It wasn't even peaceful like it had been the early morning when we had first walked down it. It was now just desolate, and it gave me the willies. I shivered and Rin squeezed onto my hand. I held her closer to me and I looked ahead at Piko. Slowly he unsheathed his sword. The blade gleamed in the Mid-day sun. His gaze was intense. Like, a Popsicle…

_"Walk quietly."_ He whispered. He began to creep, moving his eyes, not his head checking corners. I crouched and began to do the same; close behind me Rin followed. She sped up just a little, and pulled a driver out of the golf bag. He held it tight in front of her; she walked sideways like a crab. I turned around and walked backwards. Checking over my shoulder every so often to be sure I hadn't been left behind. The snow crunched under our feet so quietly it was almost silent. My eyes were wide and becoming dry. I blinked for just a second and tripped over the back of my foot making a lout 'FWUMP' noise in the snow.

I tried to scramble up quickly I looked at Rin, who looked to be in horror. Piko turned around immediately and helped me up.

"Good going, Swan queen, now we gotta run." Piko hissed dashing ahead of us. I grabbed Rin's hand and we ran to keep up. Fortunately we didn't run into any zombies until we got farther up the road. Many had previously just been sitting there, waiting to die. Now that there was new blood in the mix they were flocking towards it. I tried to keep track of how many, but they all came surprisingly fast.

Piko took hold of his already unsheathed sword in both hands. I don't know if he had previous training or what, but I figured so long as he could kill zombies with that thing, I was fine with him using it. Rin readied her golf club. He hands shook as she struggled to keep hold on what was essentially a metal rod. I was the only one not ready. I choke dup on the bat it was better that I have a good grip on the thing than be able to swing very far; I wasn't quite so skilled in bat-use.

"Isn't it better for us to try and out run them first?" I asked, and Piko nodded.

"It always is." He nodded. "But you have to be ready to fight and run." He added, I took a deep breath and started off, Piko and Rin followed soon enough. Piko; the sprinter; ran ahead. He swung his sword clumsily in front of him, It dint' cut very well it seemed, but maybe that's because it wasn't a very good running weapon, or maybe he really didn't know how to use it. I tried not to think on it, and I just sung the bat as hard as I could. I aimed for the heads; I figured that most things stop working if you hit their heads hard enough.

I looked at Rin briefly, she was struggling to keep up; the putter did only so much damage. I ran back and grabbed her by the arm, shocked she swung around and hit me on the shoulder with the putter.

"Ouch!" I exclaimed, Rin looked shocked for a moment but then realized it was just me.

"Thank god..." She sighed in relief.

"Come on, we gotta help Piko." I said, we ran quickly, more than once I felt my feet slip on the snow, I lonely ever looked back at Rin to make sure I still had a hold on her. It wasn't that there were a lot of zombies; it was more the fact that they just kept coming. Eventually it was more efficient just too out run them. Right up until we caught up to Piko. At this point he looked rather like a skittish samurai. His grip on the sword was tight and his hands were white with the cold and his grip, he was looking all around him, shaky and scared.

"Hey!" I called out and he looked my way. He breathed out heavily and ran to me and Rin. Then things got awkward. He hugged us both, at the same time, then he jumped away when we tried to hug him back.

"What the?" I looked at him quizzically and he shook a little, he looked me over circling around my person looking cautiously up and down, then he did the same thing to Rin. Upon finding nothing wrong with us he relaxed and then he hugged both me and Rin at the same time. Again…

"What was that all about?" I asked.

"I was just making sure that you were still you." He said stepping back. "I'll explain when we get to the hospital." I nodded reluctantly and we ran onward. It wasn't easy to stay together, I wasn't as in shape as Piko or Rin, and Rin had shorter legs than Piko and I. I had to keep my arm linked with my sister's so that I could keep up; alternatively, she had to do the same so she wouldn't trail behind. Concentrating only on the action of running, we finally made it to the hospital. The fence had been torn open from earlier. We stopped to look at the lazy dragging footprints that were now filed in mostly by snow.

"How many were there first time around?" I asked looking at Rin and Piko.

"I think…" Rin said looking up as she tried to think. "Around four, but I'm not sure." I stopped and thought myself, sure they felt like more; but perhaps that was because the thing just wouldn't die.

"Guhh…" I groaned "That means the rest are inside… not to mention all the ones out here!"

"Don't speak so loudly." Piko scolded "they'll come to sound more than sight."

"Oh." I muttered "sorry…"

"No, it's fine, just, I don't think we are ready to fight just yet…" Piko said sitting down next to a tree. He looked over at a sole ice covered body lying not ten feet away from us.

"Piko…" Rin said sadly, she walked over and sat beside him, reaching out for his hand. He looked over at her gravely he looked tired. I turned around and kept watch, I didn't want to interrupt unless I had to.

"I was worried, that when you got separated that they had got you…" Piko said regretfully "then when Len went back to get you… I just lost it a little…" I heard him laugh nervously.

"Go on, please." Rin encouraged. I heard Piko take a breath and continue on.

"Watching movies about zombies is a lot different than actually fighting them." He continued I turned my head briefly Piko was sitting cross legged and looking at Rin. Rin was sitting beside him on her knees, they gazed longingly into each other's eyes and I resisted the urge to gag. Seriously, what was this madness? We were in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. There was a time and a place for romance; it was just… not now…

"Ready to go in?" asked turning around Piko stood up first; he was followed closely by Rin.

"Yeah, let's go…" She said, is aw her blush, I turned around and laughed awkwardly.

I looked back to see Rin lug the cooler up and drag it along behind her.

"We will be leaving _that_ by the hospital." Piko said pointing sternly at the cooler. "If we could strap it on as a backpack I would say otherwise but if it must be dragged it is better off left out here."

"What if it isn't there when we come back?" Rin asked quizzically

"It'll be here." I said "No one who is sane will go into the yard of a quarantined hospital just for a little white cooler." I said Rin clicked her tongue and she slowly nodded in agreement.

"It would also be bad if I fell behind because of it again, it made it hard to hit things earlier too…" She muttered, enough that I could barely hear her. I don't' know how much Piko heard. I made a mental note- find a better way to carry the cooler. We stepped in the snow carefully; this time I tried my best not to make noise. Making too much noise here would be bad. We quickly dug out a hole in the snow and covered the cooler with it. I looked over at Rin and Piko. We all nodded and I walked up to the door and opened it slowly. I looked back and asked quietly.

"Did we pack a torch?" Piko nodded and unzipped my bag to pull it out. I took it in one hand and flipped the switch. This I immediately regretted; they looked at me, blanked eyed an emotionless. Blood trickled form their lips and they crawled. Like demons at my feet. I dropped the torch and began to swing forward blindly. I heard the cracks of skulls and the moans of the zombie as their skulls were crunched under the bats weight.

I backed out of the hospital and slipped on the stairs. Piko readied his katana and ran up to the door, the first zombie inched its neck out and I closed my eyes just as I heard the whirring of the katana in the air. When I opened my eyes the zombie's head was rolling down the steps.

"Was there only one?" he asked quickly.

"There were more." I answered dazedly. Piko's expression fell flat. It reminded me on a thinking old man, his brow wrinkled and he squinted his eyes.

"How many?" he asked walking back down the steps to help lift me up. As I stood up I glimpsed at Rin, her mouth was wide open with shock.

"At least ten… I dropped the torch before I could tell." I said. I was breathing heavily though my heart rate had begun to go back to normal after the shock.

"Right, we'll probably want to get that…" Piko said he kicked the door wide open. He leaped back as the zombies sluggishly crawled out. Their eyes were milky and white, they probably saw very poorly; if they saw at all. One by one Piko chopped their heads off. My stomach wretched as the heads rolled down the steps like melons and black-red blood coated the steps. I looked over at Rin and she went pale. I gulped in air and held my breath, the smell was overwhelming.

It was the smell of rot and the smell of decay; it was not unlike the smell of chicken bones that have been left in a hot garage for a few days. I stepped forward cautiously. The entryway of the hospital was now flooded with light and the zombies that I had not seen were cowering form the light. I looked back at Rin who was slowly following. I stepped in first, followed by Piko who picked up the torch and shut it off. I turned around.

"I'll take that…" I said to him and he nodded handing me the torch. I put it in my pocket gently and held my bad in both hands. Rin held her golf-club ready to smack anything that jumped her. She had it by the grip tightly, her face was determined. He mouth was set in a straight line and her eyes were narrowed. She would not be left behind this time. As we moved through Piko sliced at the cowering zombies, each one had glazed and dead eyes. As he cut though their skin and bone I heard each of them give out a pained roar. Sometimes, it almost sounded human.

The farther we got into the hall the darker it became. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the torch, I flipped the switch and slowly moved it along the walls of the deserted hospital. Piko's white hair stood out like a ghost, even in the dark. I looked at Rin who was shadowed even in her bright colours. I could see her skin, and that was about it. I moved the torch over to have better look at her.

"Hey! not in the eyes." She hissed

"Sorry." I apologized and I moved it to point elsewhere. It was a truly creepy place. Water was pooled on the floor, blood infusers lay lopsided by crooked beds that had been pushed out of the way. I took a deep breath and turned the flashlight forward, deeper we went in the darkness. The hallways wound around like tunnels; every time we heard a sound or saw movement we jumped. Other was one time when we heard a noise coming from a dark basement staircase.

"What is that?" I asked turning "It sounds almost like coughing." I began to take a step forward going down the steps.

"Wait," Piko said harshly "Don't go down there yet, we don't know for sure that it's coughing. It could be zombies." He was giving advice, though I did agree, being cautious was a good idea, but if there was someone alive down there they would not escape on their own. I took another breath as I hear the coughing become louder, the sound of footsteps on the stairs could be heard. Piko and I stepped back, and Piko readied his sword, I dropped the torch and choked up on the bat. I looked at Rin who was still holding tightly to the golf club. Whatever it was- we were ready for it.

The coughing became very clear, it was indeed coughing we were hearing, the footsteps were slow and booming, in the light form the discarded torch I saw a pair of medical shows and the hem of a lab coat. The I looked up in the circle of light, to see a paler-than healthy man with greyed out hair. His eyes were closed and he was coughing into his sleeve. He looked up slowly. I braced myself for anything.

When he opened his eyes, they were red and bloodshot, but not glossy.

"Hey," I heard him say "any of you got a cigarette?"

My jaw dropped a little in awe.


	8. Call you back, Lily

A/N: these chapters are really hard to write. I hope the transition from action packed moments to boring chit-chat isn't as jarring for you all as it is for me XD. All of this is important to the story though.

Lily

Kamui was beaming; he had the flash drive in his fist and a ridiculous grin on his face. I knew things were going to be more difficult than he liked to believe but I didn't want to pop his bubble. Not just yet. I'd wait until we were in the car. I looked at Hiyama-san. He looked down, almost a little sick. I wondered what was bothering him, but it didn't feel right to ask. I still didn't know him very well and he didn't make an effort to know me. I turned to look at Luka; she looked under the weather too. I walked up to her and put a friendly hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" I asked carefully.

"I've been worse," she said, smiling a little. She brushed back loose strands of her long pink hair. I felt worried for her. It had only been a short while but I felt like I would enjoy being friends with her. I closed my eyes and turned forward. She wasn't much younger than me. I was in my late thirties and she was nearly twenty-nine, it seemed. She was still very young. I held back a sigh; I worried for my own children. I wondered now if they would ever enter high school. I reached into the pocket of the pants I had borrowed from Luka and felt my phone.

I resisted the temptation to call them. It was probably a bad time. I needed a way to know if they were safe though. What better way than a call? Why not, though? It wouldn't have hurt to give it a try… I held onto my phone, ready to pull it out when I was called at.

"LILY!" I looked up; it was Kamui, still at the car. I ran forward to him.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Can you give Luka directions to the emergency relocation hospital?" he asked. I nodded, I knew where it was as I had worked there before.

"I can but… what about Rin and Len?" I asked nervously.

"There will be time for that," Kamui reassured me. "I'm sure they are doing fine." I nodded a little sceptically. I had no reason to believe that they were alive. It wasn't like I had no confidence in my children. They were extraordinary, in truth. I didn't really understand that at the time. I walked through the sludgy snow and sat in the shotgun seat. I looked out the left window pensively and waited for Luka. I looked back at Hiyama-san and Kamui. They were leaning away from each other and there was an odd negative energy in between them; it felt forced. I shook my head.

Whatever their issue was it was not my business. Luka stepped into the car and everyone buckled up.

"Where will we be going?" she asked. I gulped and recited the directions to the hospital, and we were off. I stared out the window. The world glided by. I watched the people, staring at them with apathy. There was no point to their lives. They wouldn't even have lives soon enough! Every one of them would perish; it was survival of the fittest to the extreme. Japan doesn't allow their civilians to have guns; we were sitting ducks. I only hoped that other countries would be luckier, and _what_ were we doing? Driving to a hospital! To be honest, I felt a little betrayed and lonely. Every step of the way I was becoming farther and farther from my children, and no one around me seemed to give a shred of comfort, not even the very least of sympathy. I attributed it to the fact that none of them had children at the time.

Not that I _wished _for sympathy, but good googly googus, would a little assurance hurt them? I looked at my phone again, ready to call when the time was right. It wasn't now; I was giving directions. I thought that after we made it things would be easier. Lazily I spouted out words, "left at the McDonalds," "right at the boutique," that sort of thing. Eventually we made it. I was growing to hate hospitals; even the word was starting to make me retch. I stepped out into slushy melted snow. The heat of the day was building. We were almost a city away from my house and the old hospital. I tried not to think about Rin and Len. I _had_ to stay strong. I reached to grab my phone.

"Lily-chan, we're going in…" Luka said quietly as she stepped out.

"I'll go with you in a moment; there is something important I have to do," I told her. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Len. It rang a few times, and my heart raced. Who was going to pick up?

_"Mom?"_ It was Rin.

"Where's Len?" I asked frantically.

_"He's a little busy at the moment… where __**are**__ you?"_

"It feels like the other side of Tokyo but I can't tell. Where are you?" I asked, trying to cut to the chase; I needed to know if they were all right.

_"Currently doing what you asked, running away from home…" _She paused for a long time; I could hear Len yelling in the background. There was another voice that was familiar but I couldn't distinguish it. _"Hey, Mom, since we can call each other any time, how about we save this for later? We're going to be in a bit of a tight spot. Text me?"_

"Only if you promise to respond," I sighed nervously.

_"Why would I not?"_ I heard her say before she hung up. I sighed, I was upset, and rightfully so.  
>The moment I call my children to see if they are OK, and all they can say is <em>text me!<em>? I suppressed my anger and walked into the hospital after the others. Gakupo was talking with the receptionist, Luka-san was sitting on the waiting bench reading, and Hiyama-san was sitting rigidly beside her, I chose to sit beside him. He stared blankly ahead of himself; he was clearly bothered by something.

"Are you alright?" I asked as sweetly as I could, he looked at me slowly; he looked scared, like I would bite him or something. He shook his head rapidly like a dog trying to dry off. Then he nervously ran his fingers though his hair to put it back in place.

"It's nothing." He said plainly, he was still rigid so I was unsure whether to take his word on it or not. I shrugged it off and stared at the floor. My jaw was slack and my eyes were unfocused, this was the last place I ever wanted to be…


End file.
